Citation network analysis

ABSTRACT

Knowledge is socially constructed, and one way that researchers convey knowledge is through citation practices within research texts to illustrate the foundation upon which current research is designed and results interpreted. Citation network analysis (CNA) is a review method that seeks to map the scientific structure of a field of research as a function of citation practices. Generally speaking, research texts that receive more citations from others symbolizes a degree of prominence to a field of study; however, the more common approaches to synthesizing research in the form of a review (e.g. meta-analyses, systematic reviews) are not able to capture these underlying metrics. Given that CNA is relatively new to the field of sport and exercise psychology, we first provide an overview of the method, including a brief review of network theory, existing research in the field of sport and exercise psychology, and some of the important limitations to consider. Then, we offer a series of guidelines to direct CNA reviews from the conception of a research question to the visualization of a citation network. Finally, we conclude the review with an overview of recent methodological advancements with potential to expand research questions and benefit future citation network research.

KEYWORDS:

• Review
• science mapping
• bibliometrics
• social network analysis
• quantitative review methodology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 We acknowledge the wide range of possible research outputs through which authors share their work (e.g. peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, theses and dissertations, and conference proceedings and abstracts). In order to optimally encompass this range in types, but also to reflect outputs that directly contain extractable citations, we will use the more general term research texts.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Canada Research Chairs program.